[Julian2011]

Hello
I got to thinking about how long Anyplace to Anywhere you like might take…… That didn't quite fit into the original intention …. To get a layout which could be made in a, relatively, short time … a layout which can be used to learn an few things. ....

The concept of the Anyplace to Anywhere layout is simply a OO railway for my 7 yr old girl to play trains and learn a few things as she does, hence the name. I have collected a number of trains that she and the family have been on and other bits so she can role play and also worked out some card based games to be played out on the layout, including an Inglenook Sidings type. ....

http://www.modelrailforum.com/forums/index...showtopic=24091

It also has to be capable of quick setting up and packing away, therefore not joining up loads of rails from a box every time .... Nothing has changed …. BUT …. She is quite a time away from using it because of the time it takes to build it and I would rather get her involved in, at least, part of the intended plot rather more quickly …. So ….

I remembered the size Ingleton Sidings [ an Inglenook variation ] I had seen at the Bentley show in Melksham … she likes a puzzle or two, so I thought a quick interim shelf Shunting Puzzle [ Shunting on a shelf .... pleeease! ] might be good.

I also need it to be very light .... so construction was relevant too …. Enter the Mosquito and Vampire … made from Ply … add in model a/c foam / ply [ or Balsa ] sandwiches …. There is an idea forming….. Here is the start ........

DSCN2364 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

…. 40mm insulation foam in need of stripping down naked with enough Ply to cut 2 x bits of bread for the sandwich ...

… then a layout plan on Anyrail …. Measure the windowsill … gives me 48" x 8" …. Look in the spare rails pile and find I have a curved set of Electrofrog and a short Electrofrog Y …… pull them onto the plan and mess around with lengths to make sure I have room for 5 x trucks on the long siding and space for 3 x trucks on the other 2 sidings.

The Plan


Shunt Plan by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

In fact there is a slight change ..... already .....

.... as you can see from the plan, the tracks run through the Goods Shed on the side away from the goods doorway, with the loading platform next to the door .... the goods shed is now the Great Northern Skale Regis one ..... it has the rails through the shed next to the open door .... so little fingers can reach through to load the trucks with appropriate items .......

Those with sufficient remaining levels of eyesight [ or suitably recent assistance from the Optician ]

and good levels of observation will, of course. have noticed thet there is some pink area and some white area ......

The pink is for the location of the foam .... which leaves the white area, where there is to be no foam ......

.... this space in the foam will house the electrickery and a Frog Juicer for each set of points ....

.... I could have run the Droppers through the whole board to the underside, as it is only a total of 48mm thick all told .. but .... that recess should keep it all tucked up out of the way .....

So far the sandwich has been made, rails cut, Droppers soldered, holes for the Droppers drilled, most of the 2 x types of Underlay glued to the Sleepers .......

then I ran out of one type of Underlay and had to order some more .......

..... ordered some more .... but ..... can't progress any more yet ........

Anyway .... that's probably as much as anyone can put up with my drivelling on for the moment .......

I would be interested in any [ civilised

] comments on what has transpired so far ........... more pictures and information later, if anone would like to see them ..

TTFN
J

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do BD
Thanks for the comments

Perceptive as ever BD .......

.... I might just dabble a bit .........

BUT ONLY to show her how .............. ............. honest .....

Siding selection will be pinkie placed points ...... I want her to have to look at what happens to them each time .......

..... later I might put a couple of Richards levers and rods ...... to develop the same learning process ......

QUOTE Is this going to be a proper shunting puzzle,as your sidings look the same length

They are indeed a bit long for short trucks .... The top one is longer, @ 18", than the other 2 which are 12.5" each ...... .. I am going to leave them that length to begin with ......... so I don't get the Hairy eyed monster jumping out at me and yelling -

"IT'S A STUPID GAME AND JUST WON'T WORK!!!!"

.........

...... later I shall add some blockages at the far end ..... Brake vans, burnt out van [ fancy making one of them ] ...... to get 1 x 15" and 2 x 9.5" usable sidings ....... obviously the pictures of these won't go in the bag, so they can't get selected for shunting

....... like the old matchbox computer for winning at Noughts and Crosses .........

J

 

[Julian2011]

Thank you for the comments .....

I have a question ...... I have put droppers through the top bread, on the Sandwich ...

.... soldering not my strong point ...... having the blistered hands replaced by prosf .. prosstel ... new ones later ......

Plan ... am using Choc Bar Connectors and have checked that I can get 2 x Droppers / Bus wires, twisted together, in each side of a single Terminal, easy ..

... that is quite suitable for the first 2 Dropper sets and the Bus continuation wires .....


DSCN2366 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

the Bus [ not shown on picture ] enters the underboard space, from the Controller, through the hole on the foam in the top left corner of the trough, where there are also the first 2 x Dropper sets ..... the Bus wires will then have to continue across the Space to the 4 x pairs of Droppers in the right hand part of the Space .... so far so good .....

these wires and the pair for a Frog Juicer .... making 6 x connections +ve and same number -ve, i.e. totalling 3 x paired wires each ....

.... I thought it might be tidier to connect the -ve wire pairs along one side of a block of 3 x choc block terminals and another similar block for the +ve ones ..... idea being to cut copper links, shaped like staples, for the connectors down the side of the Block - opposite to the Droppers side .... so there's the plan ....

Now the question .... I tried to get a short bit of Domestic Cable [ 1.5 or 2.5mm ] from M*****s, as the other outlets here abouts , only sell 20+ mtr lots of it .... it is shown on their wire selection board BUT they don't have any in stock ...

... ended up with roll of 1.25 mm varnished copper wire .... any ideas [ non-offensive ] about how best to remove the varnish to get a good connection between the copper staples and the choc bar terminal screws would be most welcome ....

Thanks for looking

J

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do all,

.... droppers all connected as is Dual Frog Juicer .....

will it all work ....

........ ......... ........ got to go and make food for little Driver and M-in-Law .....

..

J

 

[Julian2011]

Air hair lair dt [ Chapter 11 - N-Army Orrficer talk ]

Ow do the rest,

QUOTE What is you thinking behind using ?.......................

Thought it might be better to input the 6 x Droppers / Juicy Feed along one side of the Choc Block, to fit in the underboard space .... Toadstool in there

.... less tight curves in the Flex, so less pressure on the joins at the other ends ...

.. so ran Copper connections along the one edge ..... and the 3 x pairs of Droppers along the other side .......

Same for the red ones .....

would have been easy with a bit of Domestic Cable but M*****s didn't have any .... didn't want 20mtrs ..... so got the 1.25 mm Varnish Clad Copper instead ......


Image169 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

Should add that lengths are only for checking circuits and staying through the holes when track elevated slightly for applying sticky to fix the track ... will all be shortened when track stuck down .....

J

 

[Julian2011]

QUOTE little corner DIY shops where the lad sells you just as much as you ask for (in feet mind).

Must be some in Salisbury somewhere ...... difficult to see past the beards, wide brimmed leather hats, grey haired pony-tails, calf length candy-striped trousers and Barb**r coats ... and that's just the women ......

.... mind you they do run to a better class of yob ........

M*****s claim to sell it by the length ...... but you have to do your own calculation to convert to proper measurements ......

.... then they tell you there is none in stock .......

[Note aside - it always amused me that school kids have been taught pretend measurements for more than a generation ...... BUT ...... when discussing lengths and volumes most still request a conversion to the real thing, so they can picture it in their minds .....

........ seems that more important persons can Pontificate all they like but the people will continue to make their own minds up .......

]

Thanks for the kind words ..... would like to get it done more qquickly but am under the threat of having to clear the workshop Conservatory for fast approaching festivities and a 7 yr old female demander of my time ..... on holiday now .......

Will see if I can get the thing running later today when all other duties on the list completed ............ ............... .......................... off to the jungle now .....

J

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do all,

Last of the underlay onto the tracks and sticky bits ballasted .. [ the tops of the Tracklay is the sticky bits I am refering to - before anyone goes there ....

]

Next ..... connect the Controllor and switch on ......... will it all work ............

.......... in comes the Mini Driver to assist ............

Whew ......

..... one engine + truck ....... all sidings and both points have power .......

Have small video but Flickr times out before it uploads ..... any ideas from the auditorium .....

Now to fix the underlay to the Baseboard ........

...... now ........ .......... where did I put the Co***ex .......... ......... ............? .......... ?

J

 

[Julian2011]

Prompt reply there BD, thank you ....

I will go and have a look at that .....

Mind you ... it may not be worth the effort .... it isn't the sort of quality I aimed my media students at ........

J

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do all,

Managed to Upload the grotty Vid ......

....... it is very basic Flycamone stuff ..... but .... it does show the first run to check all the connections and the Frog Juicer work ..... just ...

You can click either link - they both go to the same place ......

.... sort of .... the second is bigger, so it seems after posting this ......

BTW .. the grinding noise isn't the Loco ...

... there is a Christmas decoration just out of shot .... honest ... no, I mean it .......

http://s576.beta.photobucket.com/user/jcre...de9513.mp4.html

J

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do,
On the Video the Underlay is shown sort of there but loose .....

it is possible to see there are 2 kinds .... I thought I would use Gaugemaster Ballasted for the Sidings and TrackLay for the points ..... wanted to avoid having to chop up the Gaugemaster Granited bits around the points

... also wanted to use this Layout as practice for the bigger one .... quick checks of measurement showed bottom of Sleepers to Baseboard = 3mm and Tracklay said to be 1 1/2 mm ....

A final check and adjustment was made of the track and Dropper fit, particularly to the Goods Shed ...... got a little help here .......

.... they help to keep Mini Driver curious ......

DSCN2349 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

I had got a sample of the Tracklay to see if the idea is feasible ......... and it looked ok


DSCN2336 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

...... when both lots were stuck to the tracks it seems that the measurements of thickness were a fraction out ....... Ooops ...... but not far out ...

Didn't have enough Tracklay for a complete double layer to complete the job, from what you see here but it looked ok enough to order another 20 mtr .....

..... the double layer, under the Signal Box, is where it meets the Gaugemaster .... and there is only 1 layer of Tracklay beneath where the tractor is ........


DSCN2360 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

an insert of a single layer of cereal packet made the height of bot sets of sleepers match perfectly ........ a layer of Co***ex ..... lay the Track, with attached Underlays on it ....... and topped the Track with Nigella Lawson, for the night ...

... and a few more suitable substantial chefs .... and hope I have a recipe for smooth running tracks .......

Lessons learned to date .... and in no sepcific order ......

1. Having the Droppers attached to the bottom of the Track at a small angle outwards to make it easier to pass through the Underlays .... was a mistake .... it meant the holes in the Baseboard had to be much bigger for the Droppers to be lifted in and out .... putting strain on them ...

2. I marked the out-line of the Track before fitting the Droppers ... good one .... left it wide of the Track but didn't quite appreciate quite how wide it would be with the underlay on ... Mark with underlay loosely fitted next time ...

3. Tested Droppers and Track before glueing Track to Board ..... didn't want to be tearing it up to mend a badly soldered joint. Must make some wedges for holding the Track up in the air, whilst applying the glue ..... or grow another arm ....

4. On reflection it may be better to use just one type of Underlay .... it will take quite a bit of fiddling to get the Ballast to match on the sides .... same area .... 2 x layers of Tracklay makes it easy to leave a small gap in the top layer under the Sliding Point Sleeper and Ballast will stick to the layer under that, which can be continuous .....

May be able to invert Layout Monday to shorten and secure the Bus and Droppers .... plan already under threat, from SWMBO, as Festive Season gets closer .... probably not the only one to be restrained like that ...... can you believe she wants to turn the Workshop into a Conservatory in less than 24 hours .......

to all out there and thanks for all the helpful comments .... and a few others too ......

J

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do all,
Weather prevented going out to take Mini Driver skating, so managed to tidy up the wiring and secure the connectors ......

...... of course a trial of the completed circuits was essential ...... well my excuse anyway ......

DSCN2370 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

all went well except ..........

.... the Engine sometimes stopped when run very ... very slowly over one frog

.... tried it the other way and no problem .... time for a guest appearance then .....

who do we always rely on when there is trouble .....

.......


DSCN2373 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

Ah yes ..... there it is ..... BUT who is it ....... over there .... at the far end in the mist ........

of course, it's the Army ......


DSCN2375 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

True to reputation Basra ran over the points quickly and slowly ..... back and forth ...... back and forth ..... testing with the slowest speeds

....... oh yes ... and that is very slow ........ as usual the Army came up Trumps .... not a single glitch .....

conclusion from Sergeant A Driver .......... the other engine must be catching on part of one of the rails round the Frog and a close inspection is needed in the daylight .........

a quick run through the shunting game ..... easy one for Mini Driver to see ..... she found much quicker solution ..... hand of mini god just lifts them up and puts them in order ....... why ever did BR never think of that ........

here is a picture of the line up ....... all ready to go ........

DSCN2382 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

Mini Driver says the nearest wagon had to have passengers ...........

............

...............

... they look about as lively as the milk churns in the next wagon, to me ....

....Happy Christmas all .......

... and thanks to everyone for all your comments ...

..... particularly all those useful ones ...........

J

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do dt and all,
Thanks for the comments ....

QUOTE well timed ...... ..
promised myself it would operate by Christmas ... one of those "that's a good idea" moments .......

....
a rather close run thing with only 30 seconds to run to the SWMBO deadline for the Workshop conversion, last night ......

QUOTE suggested I load, vid's, direct to You Tube for quicker uploads, which I am now doing, but depending on,"traffic" can take 1 hour for a vid. of 2. mins.

BD suggested Photobucket, which would seem to be a bit quicker .....

.. the video further up the page is there .... I would imagine it is more down to the BT line speed 'though .... ours is rubbish and the pigeon link keeps going to sleep too ........

J

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do all,
Thanks for the greetings and comments ... much appreciated ..

I mentioned .... in short .... well ok, at length .... a glitch with the original Class 8 stopping when going, very slowly, out to the right over the Y points, but at not the other direction [ ie. no problem entering the points from the right-hand Siding ] ....... or any other place on the layout .........

I found a similar problem at the same Y points, with a small, 4 Plank, truck ..... http://www.hornby.com/shop/new-releases/r6...rosper-4-plank/ .... except it jumps up onto the Frog and derails quite frequently ....

.... when going faster .......

.............. Looking closely when running slower, it still tries to jump up as it gets to the Frog ...... just doesn't have the momentum and drops back onto the track ........ other trucks seem to just follow the Track to the right, smoothly .......

if the finger from the sky runs it round slowly and a small sideways pressure is added to the left, it will stop against the point of the Frog .........

I thought one possibility for this might be because it might have a wider wheelbase than the rest ..... I don't yet have a B to B Gauge ...

.... but will obtain one as soon as I can find one ......

rough check of sideways slop gaps of the wagon and others .... ie. move one flange across to its rail and see how far between the rail and flange on the other side ..... it seems there is less slop on the offending wagon, than any of the others .... varying between approximately 1/2 - 1 mm less

.... 2 possibilities came to mind .... the second of which was the possibility that the Guard Rail is not carrying out its function properly ..... I don't know if that is likely, or if moving it closer to the Stock rail might give problems for the other trucks .... and even less idea what to do to check it ...... .......

I did consider taking a file to champher that side of the Frog point a little .... but it occurs that other wagons don't have the problem ........ and that seemed very expensive if it wasn't the problem ....

Any ideas apreciated ...........

J

 

[Julian2011]

Cheers dt,
That would be the easiest to check ..... must find a B to B gauge Thursday ........

I got the magnifying specs on the Frog in the light just a while ago ....

..... looks a bit narrower on the right hand fork of the Frog ......... can't find my Vernier Callipers, since moving here 18 mths ago ........ cut lengths of cereal packet ..... left fork took 3 x pieces between Frog and adjacent Check Rail .... right hand one took 2 x pieces with a space but 3rd had to be pushed very hard to go in ........

....

...... haven't got a clues which is out of adjustment ... Frog or adjacent Check Rail .... or how to find out ... that is a step that is best approached if the B to B comes up -ve ......

Thanks dt .... maybe more progress in the morning ........

J

 

[Julian2011]

Hi,
just got out of the shower from washing all the dust and grease away, after the day grubbing about in the 4 ft, doing all that measuring ......

... my ankles are kna*****d from the walk back to the shed, on that unfinished Ballast ..........

QUOTE "Oh No! Look - there's a baby lamb on the line!"
"Quick! STOP THE TRAIN !" ....... delightful .......

... could should be a wake up call .... for many ...

Oh so true ..........

........ Pip is at it on the video ...... Helpful ... yes, it's connected now" .. big eyes roll to show genuine, it's true Dad ....... waiting for the wagons to pass before changing the points for the next section check ...

.. then the PVA brush is out and about to clean the dust off the Loco, as it starts down theTrack .......

..... in front of how many proper modellers ? ..........

......

QUOTE Mint Sauce......Anyone

Surely LF&T would be quicker to the brakes than that ........... .............. ..............

ttfn

J

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do,
Did a bit of matching the 2 types of Ballast today .... one or two very small holes in the Gaugemaster, where the Droppers pass through and all along the edges of the Tracklay, where the points are ....

I just brushed neat PVA along those exposed sides of the Tracklay .. [ to the front of Basra ] .. and in the slits in the Gaugemaster near where they meet ..... scattered ballast with a herb jar .... now waiting for it to dry ....

DSCN2375 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

The rest of the Ballasting will have to wait until the mud colour has been painted on either side of the track ..... and some bits of grass along the edge of the Mud

B to B came today from Aus via Gaugemaster ... reset all B to Bs .... now have same wagon hitting the Frog point and now another .....

.... others unchanged .....

one Hornby and one Bachmann .. one spoked other 3 hole disks ..

.... might look at new sets of wheels ... but doutlful about efficacy given information so far ........

Anyway ... question lots of opinions on .... picture of overall layout shows Goods shed in place .... Staithes and Signal Box on Layout .... look better opposite way round Staithes and Sig Box ..... Questions .....

is Signal Box best so operator has one way view across all operations .... and would the Staithes be allowed where the Signal Box is -- given it is so close to the Goods Shed ......

J


DSCN2362 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do dt & BD,
Thank you both for replies ....

QUOTE 1. What mm. b/b, did you get?
2. Remove,both Troublesome Trucks,run the rest thru, testing all sidings.

1. B to B - DCC concepts 14.5

2. Will try the trucks again with Loco ..... have only run them through the points by hand and free run [ push and go ] since setting all B to Bs [ wet glue and loose Ballast today ] ..

.... Have run them both through other points and there are no problems with any others .....

have done same with all other trucks and the only 2 playing up anywhere are these two ....

the only place they play up is the right turn out of the Y points .....

QUOTE I take it were talking about Hornby points

Thanks BD, I seem to remember reading something similar ... possibly the same blog .. but these short Y points are Electrofrog by Peco .... remainder of track also by Peco

QUOTE Replace 1. T/T, run em all again, if T/T still plays up , turn it 180*, run again,
If ok, Replace 2 T/T, if trouble with that one, turn 180*.
Just run the 2 T/T's with the shunter, check all coupling are "sliding" correctly when they take the "curves" on the Y. and not binding...

When the Ballast is dry and vacuumed the loose off, tomorrow, will try and see these other ideas using the Loco to push ....

Thanks again .... tomorrow is another day .... and possibly a solution? ..... if not then one thing is pretty certain ...... there will be plenty of solution dropping from the clouds above ......

ttfn
J

 

[Julian2011]

G'Day if that's what the stuff that is hurtling, at the ground, passed my window, is called ! .. [ Chapter 19 - Foreign Relatives ] .... I reckon it's unlikely to be doing that in the Antipodes, right now ....

QUOTE just another punt..... 1. are the 2 x 2. TT's, "buffer locking"
2. take a pick, close up, on the wheels,on the points,

3. were these the splayed axle one's you had trouble with a month ago...........?.

1. unlikely, I think ....

... most of the checking was with a lone wagon .... I will pay attention to this though when running checks with the Class 8 today ... after cleaning up the loose Ballast. ....

2. Good idea dt .... will have to move the Board round a bit to see if I can get enough light to have a clear picture

.. not really enough Sun-light through the current cloud thickness

.... will also try to get a vertical picture of the points ... may find something with zoom ...

.. a similar "Blow Up" made lots of money a while ago ......

3. Arghhhh ..... sorry but that would be far too easy ... both axles slip through like a greased Weasel .......

Mini Driver came over to assist and observed that the 2 TTs were doing .. Wagon Wheelies .......

Got one of those rechargable hand held - whirly differential air pressure filters [ WDAPF for short ... no wonder we call them Vaccum Cleaners ..

] .... great for removing Ballast, as there is no bag, just the clear chamber .... which is washable, as is the filter .....

.... very easy to do .....

J

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do all,
Progress on the Weelie Wagons ....

DSCN2402 by JulianR 2013, on Flickr

Circumference can just be seen right on the tip of the Frog .... couldn't get a clearer picture due to lack of Sun recently and having to use flash ....

Bought new spoked Hornby wheels .... and a new Hornby truck ..... fitted new wheels to Yellow TT ....... now greased Weasel .......

.... new truck had same problem, so changed wheels and another greased Weasel ......

Has to be the wheels .... took magnifying glass to them again .... BINGO .... the errant wheels are turned to a narrow edge [ for looks I guess .. someone out there will know ] .... look at other wheels shows similar narrow turned edge .. but .. the TT wheels seem to have been turned to a narrow edge only from the inside ... quite deeply too ... other wagons seem to not have this feature done on the inside ... resulting circumference is slightly further out than turning both sides down - on the offending wheels ... enough for Wagon Wheelies

...... ............ ...............

Thanks to all who posted .. it really does get to the options and help get to the point ..

.... offending Weelie Wagon wheels removed now part scenery and will eventually have paint rust so as not to get used again .....

J

 

[Julian2011]

Ow do Iarnrod,

QUOTE I get back from a ride with the Sithe Dine Hinds and come across this foul calumny. What makes ye think Army officers speak like this?

Was in Berlin for a while - wife had job in Brigade HQ ... she also got pressed volunteered into the General's wife's little group of activists .......

....... she answered the phone one day with a full on mickey take "Air hair lair", thinking it was another RAF wife - friend of hers .........

........... the General's wife ..

..... yep, on the other end of the phone ............ didn't notice ..........

It's probably best not to go into the tea-break with Patio Set, complete with umberella and Mess Steward ............ ............. or the Brigade RSM - on a Queen's Birthday Parade practice - being told NO! ,,,,,,

)))))))) ............. ..... I said probably best NOT to .................... ................. but on both occasions there were a large number of Army SNCO's holding their breath, trying not to show any expression whatsoever ..........

QUOTE I'll horsewhip you on the steps of your club,

I'll thank you for no more airing of your N'Army pleasures on this site ...........

J